So the information Bashir needs is locked up in Sloan's mind, and Bashir has to invent a new piece of equipment to get it out. Why doesn't he go get one of the many Vulcans serving on the station (according to "Field fo Fire") and get him or her to do a mind meld? Surely that would be a lot quicker, but he doesn't even try.

Plotline

With Odo on the brink of death, Bashir and O'Brien must play a dangerous game with Section 31 - a game which will ultimately take them all the way into the very mind of Sloan himself.